''As yet her conduct has been great both as a free and as a martial nation. We hope it will continue so, and finally baffle all her enemies, who are in fact the enemies of human nature.''

James Madison (1751-1836), U.S. president. Madison to George Nicholas, March 15, 1793. W.T. Hutchinson et al., The Papers of James Madison, vol. 14, p. 472, Chicago and Charlottesville, Virginia (1962-1991).
On the French Revolution.

''The class of citizens who provide at once their own food and their own raiment, may be viewed as the most truly independent and happy.''